Fire in the sky
by lady-warrioress
Summary: 2007 movie universe: Mikaela's about to experience something that will change her life forever. Please read and Review TEMPORARELY DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

"Why do I have to buy you a new motorcycle?" Sam Witwicky whined as he and his girlfriend Mikaela drove into the used motorbike store.

"Because," she replied, matter-o-factly, turning in her seat to frown at him. "It was_ your_ car that ran over my old one."

"Bumblebee didn't do it on purpose!" he exclaimed, looking away from her stare.

"I know," she shot back. "But I can't get it fixed."

"Why can't _Bumblebee_ buy you a new one?"

"Because_ Bumblebee _would scare the crap out of the dealer if he did."

Sam grinned at the thought. He looked like he was about to make a comment on that but he didn't. She was glad he didn't. She wasn't in the mood for a snappy come back at the moment.

Sam parked Bumblebee in one of the parking slots and the engine turned off. Mikaela opened the passenger side door of the bright yellow Camaro with the black racing stripes and stepped outside. She walked around the car and stood in front of the driver's side door, her hands on her hips. "Come on," she said.

Sam sighed and got out of the car.

Then the two stood there, staring over the Promised Land of old, new, and semi-new motorcycles. "Well, where do we start?" Sam asked, looking at his girlfriend.

The dark haired girl didn't answer. She just strode purposely down one row of motorcycles. Sam followed. He didn't know what she wanted. _She_ would have to pick it out for him.

Mikaela wanted a moped. A cheap, not too broken down but not too flashy, moped. She would have chosen something more expensive but Sam's father only allowed his son to withdraw a certain amount of money out of the savings account.

_All well. It doesn't matter. As long as it works..._

"C'mon Mikaela, just pick one already," Sam said after a half hour of looking. His girlfriend had looked over about twenty different types of bikes but nothing had caught her eye. "I have to be home soon. Mom's making tacos."

She gave him an impatient look. Leave it to Sam to think with his stomach. "Give me a few more minutes," she said looking around at the bikes. They all looked about the same. Old, rusty, unimpressive...

Hello, what was this?

Not too far up the row of bikes was a bike that looked like it hadn't been there since the Stone Age. She walked quickly over to it and knelt down for a better look. It was pink, that was the first thing she noticed. But not an ugly Pepto Bismal pink, a magenta like pink. It had a blue tinted windshield, black seat, black wheels. Mikaela knew the make too. Buell Firebolt. But what was a bike like_ this _doing in a lot full of broken down metal heaps?

"Pink?" said a voice above her.

Mikaela had forgotten Sam had come with her. She looked over her shoulder at him. He was eyeing the Firebolt, impressed by the make but not the color choice. "A _pink_ motorcycle?" he said. "Why would anyone want to take away the awesomeness of a motorcycle by painting it_ pink_?"

"Maybe a girl owned it," she said feeling like she had to stand up for the motorbike. "Maybe she painted it pink."

"It's _still _pink," he said.

"The color doesn't matter," she said, looking it over again. She liked it. "Besides; you're not buying it for yourself."

He caught her meaning. "Yeah, but_pink?" _he argued.

She folded her arms. "It's _my_ motorbike," she retorted. "And if I don't like the color I'll change it."

Sam gave up. If Mikaela wanted the pink bike he'd have to buy it for her. After all; he'd totaled her other one and owed it to her. "Fine, okay," he said, giving in. "I'll buy it."

* * *

Sam dropped Mikaela off at her house after they'd paid for the motorcycle. He and the man selling the bikes had to tie it onto the back of Bumblebee with bungee cords. The salesman commented that he'd never seen the bike before, but thought it had probably come in recently because it wasn't covered in rust yet. 

When they reached Mikaela's house awhile later, Sam got out of the car to unstrap the bike from the back of the car. This time Mikaela helped. As soon as the pink bike was untied from the back of the car it slid down the hood and onto the road. Sam and Mikaela walked the bike into her garage.

"Sam," she said as the set it up against her mother's station wagon.

"Yeah?" he said, looking up at her.

"Thanks, for both things."

"No problem," he said, smiling.

She smiled back and they stepped out of the garage. "So," he said, once they were back outside. "Wanna come over for tacos?"

"Sure."

* * *

The next day, after school, Mikaela stepped onto the school parking lot and headed toward her new motorbike. As she walked toward it she noticed someone was already standing by it. Trent. She rolled her eyes. What did he want now? Was he going to try and take her back again? He should really give up. They were over. 

She stopped when she reached her bike then folded her arms and glared at Trent.

Trent smiled that false smile at her. "Hey, baby," he said then pointed at her bike. "I see you got a new bike. "

"Yes," she said, patiently.

"How'd you get it?" he wanted to know.

"Sam, my _boyfriend_, bought it for me," she said, stressing the word boyfriend. She noticed his smile freeze for a moment.

"Witwicky," he growled.

"Yes," she replied, grabbing her bike by the handles and slowly walking it away from him. "I told you already."

Trent frowned at her then turned and walked away without a word.

Mikaela watched him go then mounted her bike. She started the engine and rode off, feeling a little worried that Trent might go after Sam. She glanced back at the parking lot. Bumblebee wasn't parked there so she guessed they'd left already._Good, _she thought, _Trent can't do anything to him now._

Revving the engine she entered the afternoon traffic.

She was about fifteen minutes away from home when she noticed a police car following her. At first she paid no attention to it but when it took every turn she took she started to get worried. What did this guy want? She wasn't speeding or breaking any other traffic laws.

She tried to ignore the car but the closeness of it just made her nervous. When she looked back again she saw that_ nobody was driving it!_

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed, staring at the police car.

The car crept closer and growled at her.

Totally freaked she revved the engine and shot ahead. The police car wasn't far behind.

She glanced back at it. "What's with this guy?" she asked herself.

She turned a corner and heard the car do the same.

Suddenly she heard a strange grinding noise behind her. When she looked back again she saw the car was changing shape, and rising, rising off the ground, though it still continued to follow. That was all she needed to see to figure who and what that thing was. The Decepticon Barricade.

Barricade swung at her but her bike, seemingly on its own accord, swerved out of the way. Mikaela had to grasp the handle bars tightly to avoid being thrown off. The Decepticon angrily swiped at her again. The bike once again attempted to swerve out of the way but Barricade predicated that and swung in the opposite direction. His arm came in contact with Mikaela and she was flung from the bike. Her body hit the pavement hard as her bike swerved out of control and crashed into a tree. Mikaela slowly got off the pavement, shaking stars out of her vision. When she could see clearly again she saw Barricade looming over her. Before she could react he reached down to grab her.

Suddenly something smashed into him, knocking him away from her. He made a surprised noise and looked around for the culprit. That's when he spotted Mikaela's motorcycle. It was driving on its own power, heading straight for him. He stared at it in confusion. How was it moving without a driver?

He got his answer a few seconds later. The bike suddenly transformed. It became a robot of black and pink colors. Mikeala watched as it jumped up and grabbed onto Barricade, knocking him to the ground with the force of the blow.

The two robots struggled on the ground for a few minutes, the smaller robot beating at Barricade's head as the bigger robot tried to pry it off. Finally Barricade was able to grab the robot. He yanked it off of him and threw it onto the ground. It got back up and was about to attack again but Barricade, seeming to have had enough, went into his vehicle mode and drove off, tires squealing.

The other robot watched it go for a few seconds, making sure it wouldn't come back. When the Decepticon was no longer in view and the robot was sure he wouldn't come back, it turned to Mikaela who was still on the pavement on her hands and knees.

The robot stepped toward her and then stared down at her with glowing blue optics. It put its hands on its hips and gave her a look that could only be concern. "Are you all right?" it asked in a feminine sounding voice.

It was only then that Mikaela realized this robot was female. "Oh my god," she gasped, staring open mouthed at the robot standing over her. "You're a girl?!"

"Yeah," the female robot said. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"No," Mikaela said quickly. "But I didn't know there were any female robots. I thought they were all male..." her voice trailed off.

The female robot chuckled. "Where would the fun be in that?" she asked.

Mikaela said nothing for a moment then asked. "Where did you come from?"

"Cybertron of course," the robot replied. Before Mikaela could ask another question, the robot said. "I came here because I recieved a message from Optimus Prime. I was trying to find him but got into a little accident. I wound up getting stuck in a junkyard."

"Where I found you," Mikaela said. "But how did you know I knew Optimus Prime?"

"I didn't," the female robot replied.

"Then why did you let me buy you?"

"You looked like a nice girl," she replied. "I figured I'd let you buy me and look for Optimus when I got the chance." she looked back down the road. "I didn't expect to run into _him_."

Mikaela knew she was refering to Barricade. "I didn't expect to see him again either," she told the robot. "I thought Optimus had killed him."

The femme shrugged. "Just another thing to deal with," she said then looked back at Mikaela. "So you know Optimus Prime?"

The human girl nodded.

"All right then." she went back into vehicle mode. "Get on."

Mikaela got off the ground and sat down on the black leather seat.

"Take me to him," the robot ordered.

"All right," Mikaela said and roared off.

"By the way I think, since we're going to be spending time together, we should introduce ourselves." the female robot said.

"Okay," Mikaela said. "I'm Mikaela."

"I'm Arcee," the robot said. "Nice to meet you."

_A/N_

_I got lazy when I was working on chapter one. I hope this is okay. I'll try to update again soon. I don't remember everything from the movie. All well. I'll try to make chapter 2 better, I promise. _

_I used the description of Arcee's bike form from a picture of her toy. _

_Please be kind enough to review. _


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

There was just one problem. Mikaela didn't exactly know where Optimus Prime was. The Autobot leader hadn't been around since he'd sent that signal to the stars over a month ago. She wasn't even sure Ironhide and Ratchet were still around, though she had seen an rescue that had looked like Ratchet a few days ago. She couldn't be too sure it was him, though. All rescue hummers looked like that. Maybe she should have been looking for the Autobot symbol.

"Arcee," the girl said, looking down at the female Autobot.

"Yes?" Arcee said.

"I'm not exactly sure I know where Optimus Prime is," she said.

If Arcee had been in her standard mode she would have turned her head to look at the girl. "What do you mean?"

"Well he hasn't been around town for the past few weeks, or at least I haven't seen him..."

Arcee was silent for a moment, letting that sink in. Finally she asked. "Well is there anyone _else_ here?"

"Yeah, Bumblebee, Ratchet, and Ironhide," the girl answered. "But I've only seen Bumblebee lately. He's my boyfriend's guardian."

"Only those three?" Arcee questioned. "What about Jazz? I thought he came with them."

Mikaela knew this piece of news would be hard to take b ut she had to tell her. "Jazz... is dead."

"Dead?" Arcee sounded shocked. "How can he be dead? What happened?"

"Megatron killed him."

Arcee fell silent. The girl had a feeling the female Autobot was taking it hard. "I'm sorry," Mikaela said. "Maybe I shouldn't have told you..."

"It's okay," Arcee said in a husky voice. "I would have found out either way. It would have been harder hearing it later anyway." she started slowing down then stopped. "I'm sorry." she said, changing into robot mode. "Give me a minute." She walked a short distance away and disappeared behind a building.

Mikaela watched her go, feeling bad for the female Autobot. It was always hard to lose a friend and the girl had a feeling that Arcee and Jazz might have been close. She sat down on the sidewalk and put her head in her hands. _Poor girl. I know how she feels._

She waited for Arcee to come back out. That's when she heard the banging sound.

Lifting her head she looked around herself for the source. It seemed to be coming from behind her, in the direction that Arcee had gone to be alone for a few minutes. "What in the world?" the girl got up and ran toward the sound.

When she reached the other side of the building she stopped and stared at what she saw. Arcee was mangleing a large metal dumpster, grinding out words in a different language as she did so. Her face was twisted in anger and sadness as she gave the dumpster a new look.

"Hey!" Mikaela shouted, running toward Arcee. "What are you doing?!" She couldn't let Arcee keep on kicking that dumpster. Someone might see her.

The female Autobot stopped kicking the dumpster. It groaned and folded in on itself. Arcee looked over at Mikaela. "We were more than just friends," she said slowly, her voice full of sadness.

"What do you mean?" Mikaela asked.

Arcee looked away. She stared at the broken dumpster. "We were going out when he left," she replied. "He said he'd come back someday but now..." her voice trailed off. "So much for that." she kicked the dumpster again. "And it's all Megatron's fault! That rotten Decepticon would kill anyone if he could!" she clenched a fist, the metal servos in her hand shrieking in protest. "If I ever get my hands on him-"

"You can't," Mikaela cut her off.

"Why not?" Arcee demanded glaring at the human.

"Megatron's dead too," Mikaela told her. "He died with the Allspark in his chest."

Arcee's expression changed. She unclenched her fist as her face softened. "So his death was avenged in a way," she said, looking away again.

For a moment there was another silence as Arcee stood there, still as a statue. Her mind seemed to have drifted somewhere. Mikaela waited. She had a feeling the female Autobot wanted to say something else but, after a few more minutes, Arcee seemed to change her mind about saying anything.

She looked back at the girl then went into vehicle mode. She rode up toward Mikaela. "Let's go," she said, quietly.

Mikaela hopped back onto the bike and Arcee roared off.

A minute later someone came out of the building with a bag of garbage. He turned toward the dumpster then stopped, the bag dropping from his hand and his mouth hanging open at the sight of the wreckage. "What in the world?"

* * *

"So what did they do with Jazz's remains?" Arcee asked.

"I don't know," Mikaela replied, shaking her head. "They didn't allow the government to do to him what they did to the Decepticon corpses. I think the Autobots put him to rest some other way..."

* * *

Not too far off a F-22 Raptor touched down on an airport landing strip. Since the landing strip seemed to be deserted the plane slowly began to take shape, losing more and more of its form as it shifted metal and gears. When the change was complete a robot stood in its place, taller, gray, and deadly.

Starscream had returned.

A quick scan revealed the location of Arcee and her passenger. _So you arrived safe, Arcee, _Starscream thought. He'd been tracking the female Autobot since she'd left Cybertron. _Too bad you won't be able to give Optimus Prime the information you have..._

He jumped into the air and shifted back into vehicle mode. With a roar of thrusters he was off.

* * *

Optimus Prime was returning to town. He'd left because he'd gotten a distress signal from an Autobot who had landed near the city of Las Vegas. He'd gone to help the Autobot but, when he'd gotten to it, he'd disovered it wasn't an Autobot at all. It had been a Decepticon named Blitzwing. It had fired on him the moment he got into view. He'd fought back the best he could but, before he could finish it off, it had turned into a plane and flown off. He didn't bother following it. The realization that another Decepticon had reached Earth meant that he and the other Autobots would have to be on alert for any Decepticon activity. Prime knew that Starscream had gotten away after Sam Witwicky had killed Megatron with the Allspark. This new Decepticon might mean that he had gotten Re-enforcements to help him fight the Autobots. If this was true, the trouble wasn't over yet...

* * *

Mikaela and Arcee found Ironhide an hour later. He had parked himself on the outskirts of town and was in his standard mode, leaing against a tree and cleaning his guns. He looked up when he heard the girl ride up on her motorcycle. "Hi, Mikaela!" he called to her. "What are you doing here?"

The human girl didn't waste time getting around to what she wanted. "Where Optimus?" she asked.

He shook his head, going back to what he was doing. "I don't know," he said. "He said he was going to check out an Autobot distress signal and just left." He looked at her curiously. "Why? Was there something you wanted him for?"

"Well not me," Mikaela said. She turned back to her motorcycle. "But I think _she _might."

Ironhide looked back at her again, focusing his attention on her bike. Suddenly it changed before his eyes and became a familiar figure. "Arcee!" he exclaimed, totally forgetting about his guns when he recognized the female Autobot. He stood up. "When did you get here?"

"About a week ago," she replied, putting her hands on her hips. "I would have contracted you sooner but I got into an accident and couldn't." she stepped closer to him. "Is is true about Jazz?" she asked.

"What?" he asked.

"Is it true that he's dead?" she asked.

He nodded sadly. "I'm afraid so," he replied.

"What did you do with his body?" she wanted to know.

Ironhide couldn't give her an answer. He didn't know what happened to Jazz's body. Ratchet had been the last one to handle it. Ironhide had no idea what the medic had done with it. He met Arcee's optics as he gave the only answer he could. "Ratchet had him last. I don't know what he did with him."

"Oh."

Ironhide saw how depressed the femme was getting and decided to change the subject. "By the way, why do you want to talk to Optimus so badly?" he asked. "Is there something important you need to tell him?"

She shook her head. "I think it would be best if I waited until I see him until I tell you what it is," she said. "It's important that he knows."

Ironhide got the feeling that Arcee's news wasn't going to make Prime happy. "Can you at least tell me if it's something good?" he asked.

"It's good news and bad news," she replied shortly. "It's best if I wait for Prime, though."  
He nodded. "All right. We'll wait for Prime." he sat down again. "He might not be back for a few more days. In the meantime I think it would be best to just do what you've been doing..."

"Um," Mikaela said.

The two looked at her. They'd forgotten that she was there for a moment. "Yes, Mikaela?" Ironhide asked.

"Should I be worried about whatever it is?" she asked.

"If I'm right we'll _all _have to worry," Arcee replied.

That was not the answer Mikaela was hoping for. "Um, I had better be heading home," she said. "My mother will be worried if I don't get home soon."

Ironhide nodded. it was getting dark and Ironhide knew most teenage humans had a curfew. He looked at Arcee she nodded at him. "She's my responsibility anyway," she said before he could even ask. She went into vehicle mode. She let the girl climb on then roared off.

Ironhide watched them go then also went into vehicle mode. "I'd better find Ratchet," he said, going in the opposite direction. "He needs to know about this."

000000000000

"Can you tell me anything about what you need to tell Optimus?" Mikaela asked as the two rode back into town.

"I'm sorry, Mikaela," Arcee said, apologeticly. "I'm afraid I can't tell you anything."

"Why not?" the girl pressed. "If it's something bad, I think I should know." she took a guess. "Is it the Decepticons?"  
Any answer Arcee gave was drowned out by the roar of a low flying jet. Mikaela looked into the sky. She spotted the jet flying away from them. It changed course and flew by again. As Mikaela watched, it circled back and did it again.

"What is he doing?" Mikaela asked out loud, after it had done this a few more times. "That's a military jet. Why is its pilot flying so low? Doesn't he know that's dangerous? Why is it in civilian air anyway?"

The jet circled around again and started toward the two. Before the girl could figure out what was going on the jet opened fire!

_A/N_

_I'll try to make the next chapter longer. _

_Wanna help me out here? I want to know something. Should I make Jazz be brought back to life? I really like Jazz and I really hated that he was killed. Would it bother you if I brought him back to life? Let me know._


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Arcee reacted instantly. She swerved out of the way of the oncoming missiles and off the road. An explosion rocked the ground behind them and Mikaela looked over her shoulder to see what had happened. She saw a huge crater in the road where the two had been only seconds ago.

"What was that?" she gasped, horrified by the sight. "Why did they fire on us?"

"I don't think that was one of yours," Arcee said, stopping and letting Mikaela get off before she transformed into her standard mode. She looked up at the jet in the sky and did a quick scan of it. "I think that's a Decepticon."

"A Decepticon?" Mikaela said, looking up at the jet in disbelief. "But they're all gone. Optimus got rid of them."

A missile hit the ground in front of them. Mikaela screamed as rocks and dirt showered them like a brown polluted wave. Arcee grabbed the girl's arm and yanked her out of the way before she could get hurt. "Maybe you just _thought_ had he," she said. "That was one of the things I needed to tell him."

Mikaela stared up at the female Autobot's face. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Arcee once again yanked Mikaela out of range of a missile. "Starscream didn't die," she said as she and the girl got out of range. "He came back to Cybertron and starting raising an army. The things is... when me and the other Autobots got the signal he intercepted it. Autobots weren't the only ones who heard it."

The realization of what that meant finally hit the girl. "You mean the Deceptions are on their way here as well?" she asked.

"Yes," Arcee replied, throwing the girl into the air. The femme went into vehicle mode and Mikaela landed on the seat. She roared off. "And some of them are here already."

"Like that jet," the human girl said, looking over her shoulder at the jet that was starting to follow them. "But who is it?"

"I believe that's Starscream," Arcee replied. "I remember that mode from when he landed on Cybertron and started ranting about what had happened here."

Mikaela stared at the plane. "Starscream..."

0000000000

Ratchet angrily threw his tools against the wall of an old building that hadn't seen people in about twenty years. He cursed loudly and kicked at the pile of metal at his feet. "Why won't it work?!" he demanded. "Why can't I fix him?!"

He made as if to kick it again but a voice stopped him. "You'll never fix him by kicking him."

Ratchet turned around, startled at the sudden voice. "Who's there?" he demanded, pulling out his gun.

A bulky black figure stepped out of the shadows. Ironhide. "Calm down," he said, putting up his hands. "It's just me." He shook his head. "You're getting to be as bad as me."

Ratchet calmed down. "Sorry," he said, leaning against the wall and sighing wearily. "I'm stressed."

Ironhide glanced at the pile of metal on the ground. "I see," he said then changed the subject before they got into the not so pleasant topic they'd been discussing the past few weeks. "Arcee is here."

Ratchet looked up at him, suddenly curious and interested. "What?" he asked.

"Arcee is here," the other Autobot replied. "She is currently taking care of Mikeala but she says she needs to speak with Optimus as soon as possible."

"Optimus?" Ratchet was even more curious now. "About what?"

"I don't know. She wouldn't tell me."

"Why not?"

"She says Optimus must know and she won't tell anyone else until she can find him."

"Why? If it's so important shouldn't she be telling us what it is as well?" Ratchet wondered kneeling down to pick up his tools. "I mean if it's the Decepticons I think we should know about it too so we can be ready." he tapped the wrench against the brick wall. "I don't like surprises."

"I don't either," Ironhide told him. "But what can we do? If Arcee doesn't want to tell us what she knows until she sees Prime she won't and we won't be able to make her change her mind."

"Hmmm."

"By the way," Ironhide said, stepping closer to the Autobot Medic. "How is he going? Have you been able to fix him?"

"I've been trying," ratchet said, looking down at the metal heap at his feet. "But without the Allspark it's almost impossible."

"Have you asked Prime about the shard he has?" Ironhide questioned, kneeling down to get a better look at the metal. _He looks more like his old self... but without a spark it doesn't really matter much._ "Maybe you can use it to bring him back."

"I never got time to ask him about it. He left before I could."

Ironhide frowned. "And none of us knows when he'll be back."

Ratchet shook his head, going back to what he had been doing before he'd lost him temper. "No, nobody knows," he agreed. "By the way, since you're here, can you help me?"

0000

Optimus wasn't liable to return anytime soon. On the way back he'd run into some trouble on the road. For some weird reason a tank had decided it wanted to use the same road he was using. Luckily there was no traffic for the next five miles so only Prime and the tank were on the road. The Autobot didn't know much about traffic on earth but he knew that tanks didn't usually drive on the road. Not normal tanks anyway. He started to get the feeling that this wasn't an ordinary tank.

_Devastator? No. He's dead. I killed him. Is it another Decepticon that took on that form?_

His guess was confirmed a few minutes later when the tank suddenly started taking on another form. Before the Autobot knew what was happening the tank had become a transformer. A transformer that looked suspiciously like the one he'd fought near Vegas. In fact, it _was_, the Decepticon he'd fought in Vegas. The Decepticon who called himself Blitzwing.

Optmus instantly started to transform into his standard mode. He got about halfway before the Decepticon swing at him. He took the blow in the stomach area and was sent nine yards backward before he fell onto the ground with the sound of crashing metal. He grunted and pushing himself off the ground as his body finished transforming. He looked up and saw Blitzwing running toward him, looking ready to shoot him with a gun he seemed to have pulled out of nowhere.

Optimus reacted quickly. He got up faster than his body mass seemed able to and pulled out his own gun. He raised the weapon and fired.

Blitzwing took the blast in the chest. He grunted, putting a hand over the wound, which was starting to leak oil, and took a few steps back, dropping his weapon onto the ground.

Prime came at him, firing away. Blitzwing took two more blasts before he fell over. Prime walked over to him, his gun still aimed and ready to blast the Decepticon again if he tried getting up. He stood over his enemy. Blitzwing was still online. Prime didn't really want to kill him but he would if it came to it.

The Decepticon looked into the other robots optics and growled. "Go ahead, kill me. It won't matter. There's more where I came from."

"What do you mean?" Optmus asked, surprised.

Blitzwing laughed. "You'll see." he said, not about to make things easy.

Optimus grabbed the other robot around the neck and lifted him off the ground. "What do you mean?" he demanded. "Answer me!"

The Decepticon smirked. "You'll see." he said again.

Suddenly pain shot through Prime's body. He screamed and let Blitzwing go wrapping his arms around his damaged chest. The Decepticon stood over him a bit unsteadily. He pointed his gun at Prime's head but didn't fire. He'd been ordered not to kill if he was able to overpower the Autobot. He wasn't about to defy orders, though he wanted to. "I'll let you live a little longer," he said. "So you can find out what I mean."

He smacked Prime over the head with his gun. He got the desired affect as Prime fell to the ground in a heap. Cogradulating himself he picked up the senseless Autobot and got out of the area before anyone saw him.

0000000000000

Mikaela tried calling Sam as she and Arcee road over rocky ground avoiding the missiles being shot from Starscream. Calling him was impossible. The constant jumping of Arcee's vehicle mode on the rough ground made dialing the cellphone useless because she was constantly pushing the wrong buttons and wound up calling the local pizza place by mistake.

"Forget it, Mikaela," Arcee said when the girl once again hung up on the lady. "Bumblebee won't be able to help us."

"Then what are we going to do?" she asked. "I don't know where Ironhide and Ratchet are so they can't help us either." she glanced into the sky. Starscream was still staying a good distance away. "Why is he chasing after us anyway?"

"I think he knows that I know what they did," Arcee replied. "He's trying to keep me from telling Optimus about it."

Mikaela kept on staring at the Decepticon as she asked. "How could he_ possibly _know that?"

"I don't know."

That was not the answer Mikaela was expecting to get. "Well we can't just let him do that," she said.

"I know," Arcee said. "But you're my main concern right now. I can't fight him here without risking you getting hurt or worse."

"I don't care about that," the girl said. "You can't let him stop you."

Arcee swerved out of the path of a oncoming missile. "I don't intend to," she said then stopped. "Get off for a minute."

Mikaela did so as quickly as possible. Arcee went back into robot mode and looked back up at Starscream. "Okay, big boy," she said, pulling out a gun. "Let's see what you're made of." she raised the weapon and shot it.

The blast took Starscream in the right wing. He let out a high pitched scream as he lost control and plummeted to the ground. Before he hit the dirt he changed into his standard mode and landed heavily on his feet, nearly loosing his balance.

Arcee ran toward him, shooting as she did so. Starscream dodged the blasts as much as he could, trying to figure out where they were coming from. His optics fell on the female Autobot who was running toward him. Growling his raised an arm and shot at her. She avoided the blasts until she was close enough to him. When she was only a few feet away she launched herself forward. Starscream saw her coming and shot at her. One blast hit her in the chest. She grunted in pain and fell to the ground.

Mikaela called out to the femme and started running forward to help. Arcee saw her coming and put out a hand. "Stay back, Mikaela!" she shouted.

Mikaela froze. She wanted to protest but she couldn't. There wasn't anything she could do anyway.

Starscream ignored the human girl as he walked over to Arcee. She wasn't important so he didn't pay her any mind. If she tried anything he would just kill her. "I finally got you, Autobot," he said standing over the female robot. "You shouldn't have bothered coming here or challenging me." he grabbed her around the neck and lifted her off the ground. "You might not have realized this but I knew you found out about what we did. I might have let you get this far with that information but this ends now." he aimed the cannons on his left hand at her head. "I hope you said your prays."

Mikaela shut her eyes to block out the image of what he was going to do next. As she covered her eyes and turned from them a shot rang out nearly deafening her.

_A/N_

_I'm really enjoying this. I hope everyone's in character. _


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Ratchet was still working on trying to revive Jazz, but it was next to impossible without the Allspark. That's what he'd been doing when Ironhide gave him the news about Arcee's arrival and the important message that she insisted she could only tell Optimus Prime. The Autobot Medic didn't know what it was about but he had a guess. He'd recently noticed some strange vehicles in the area. Mostly around construction sites. Vehicles moving around by themselves without human drives that he could see. He wasn't sure if they might actually be other transformers or the humans had forgotten to turn off their equiptment when they'd finished for the day. He knew humans sometimes had the tendancy of leaving their keys in their cars but this was different and he got the feeling his first guess might be the right one.

_But I might be wrong, _he told himself, going into vehicle mode and hauling Jazz's body inside. _I'll have to see for myself._

And that's exactly what he did.

When he reached the construction site he parked himself on the side of the road and stayed in vehicle mode, not wanting to draw attention to himself by going into his standard form lest the vehicles be unfriendly transformers. He watched the construction vehicles work absently around the construction site, not really doing anything important, or so he thought.

What Ratchet didn't know was that these particular vehicles were on a mission. They were part of something the medic and the other Autobots wouldn't be aware of until sometime later. They weren't stupid either. They had noticed Ratchet but couldn't be sure if he was an Autobot or just a normal rescue vehicle. Ratchet had become wise to the fact that humans got very upset when they saw cars driving around without drivers so he'd installed a hologram of a ambulance driver to sit in his driver's seat. So far it had worked. The construction vehicles had noticed the hologram but didn't know it was a hologram or if they did didn't care. They were under orders from a higher power not to attack until everything was ready. Unless of course they were attacked first and so far they hadn't.

_This makes no sense, _Ratchet thought, watching the construction vehicles. _I get the feeling something's going on but what? They don't seem to be causing any problems, if they're Decepticons, and, if they're Autobots, why haven't they tried to contact me or the others?_

He wanted to get a closer look but he couldn't without drawing attention. He started up his engine and rode off, deciding to get a better look from a different location. _But first I'll have to put Jazz somewhere in case I'm attacked. _he thought, driving a short distance down the road. _He wouldn't be too happy if he found out I let the Decepticons destroy his body._

He set the body down where nobody would see it and drove back to the construction site. The other robots had watched the whole thing without reacting at all.

* * *

Barricade had a problem. A police car similar in make and model to his own disguise had recently started tailing him. At first he thought it was just an average police car following him around for some reason but, when it didn't go away, he kne right away it was something else. _It must be another transformer, _he thought, trying to lose it without looking like he was trying to. _But is it friend or foe?_

He'd get that answer soon enough. The other car had a certain logo on the side of it. One he couldn't see from his position. This logo was different from his own and thus was his enemy, though he didn't know it. This transformer had been given the task of following him around and seeing what he was up to. The transformer knew Barricade was one of the only two Decepticons not killed during the fight for the Allspark. He had to find out what he'd been up to during the time after.

_It shouldn't be hard to do that, _the other transformer thought, being careful to keep Barricade in his sights. _I just have to keep him from suspecting anything._

* * *

_She's dead! _Mikaela thought, running away from sight of Arcee's death. _Starscream killed her and I know he's going to come after me next! I have to get away from here before he notices me! I must! I have to tell Sam what Arcee told me. He must know. The Autobots must know. I must... I just..._

Suddenly she heard a noise behind her and looked over her shoulder, half expecting to see Starscream coming after her. To her surprise it wasn't Starscream at all. It was Arcee. The female Autobot had fallen to the ground but was very much alive. The human girl was relieved. She hadn't been killed after all.

Just as Starscream had been about to pull the trigger somebody had shot him in the side of the head. He'd screamed and let go of Arcee as he grabbed his head. He looked around the area for the attacker. He spotted a yellow Lamborghini drive off the road and toward him. Before he could move it plowed into him. Arcee, from her spot on the ground where she had fallen, raised her gun and started shooting. The Lamborghini backed away from Starscream then transformed into another robot.

From a safe distance Mikaela watched the two smaller robots lay a number on the big Decepticon.

The battle didn't last long. Starscream decided he'd had enough and changed back into vehicle mode, flying off with a roar of thrusters.

When he was out of sight Arcee and the yellow robot faced each other and shook hands. "Thanks," Arcee said, smiling at the other robot.

"Don't mention it," he said, smiling back, a little shyly. "I'm glad I got here when I did. Another few seconds and it would have been too late." he looked her over. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," she replied. "I'm fine. He didn't hurt me too bad." she turned her head toward the spot where the girl had been standing. She was a slightly bigger distance away but not too far. "Mikaela!" Arcee called to her.

The girl ran toward the two robots. When she reached them the yellow Lamborghini Autobot looked her over curiously. "Who's is this?" he asked.

"This is Mikaela," Arcee replied, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "She knows the others."

"Really," he said, giving her a look of curiosity . "Then you won't mind telling me where I can find them."

"Well," she began, not looking at him. "I only really know where Bumblebee is. He's my boyfriend's guardian."  
The yellow Autobot looked at Arcee. "Bumblebee," he said."I wonder how his voice is.."

Arcee shrugged. She didn't know. She'd forgotten to ask, since she had so much other stuff on her mind. "I think we should get in touch with him," she said. "Maybe he knows where Prime is."

The other Autobot nodded then went into vehicle mode. Arcee did the same and Mikaela mechanically climbed onto the seat. The three returned to the road and drove back to town. "By the way," the Lamborghini said to Mikaela. She looked at him. "Since we're probably going to be seeing a lot of each other I'll introduce myself. I'm Sunstreaker."

"Nice to meet you," she said smiling slightly.

* * *

Ironhide tried to contact Optimus. He climbed on top of a building to get a better signal but so far he'd only gotten static. He started to wonder if maybe Prime had turned his comunicator off or something had happened to him. _I hope not,_The black colored Autobot thought, jumping back down to the street and going into vehicle mode. _I'm going to have to let the others know._

He would never get that far. A large black semi truck came out of nowhere and smashed into him, caving in the right side of his vehicle mode and wedging him between itself and a concrete wall.

* * *

Sam dialed Mikaela's number for the hundreth time. "I'm sorry," the opperater said after the fourth ring. 'The number you are trying to reach has either been terminated or out of range. Please try again later."

"Damn!" Sam shouted, throwing the phone against the wall. "Where is she?"

A face peeked into his bedroom window. He looked over at Bumblebee. The Autobot gazed at him curiously. "It's nothing you have to worry about, Bee," he said quickly. "I just can't reach Mikaele."  
"Do you want to look for her?" Bumblebee asked. "We can."

"I don't know," he said, hesitating. "She might think I'm being an obsessive boyfriend if I do."

"Okay," Bee said, moving his face away from the window. "It was just a suggestion."

"Wait!" Sam said, putting out his hand.

Bee's head returned to the window. The human boy walked up to it. "It couldn't hurt," he said reluctantly. "If we find her I'll just say I was worried since she didn't return my calls."

Bumblebee nodded. Sam climbed onto his shoulder and the Autobot knelt over so he could get off. Once Sam was safely on the ground Bumblebee went into vehicle mode and opened the drive side door. Sam got inside and the two drove off.

_A/N_

_This is it for now. I'll make the next chapter longer. I promise. _


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

"So how did you know that Arcee was in trouble?" Mikaela asked Sunstreaker on their way to Sam's house.

"I didn't know," he replied. "To tell you the truth, when I landed I got lost. I was trying to pick up the Autobot signal I'd recently recieved, you know the one that lets me know that others are in the area, when I spotted Starscream about to take her out."

"I'm just glad you came along when you did," Arcee said, gratefully. "With what I know..."

"What do you know?" Sunstreaker asked, curiously. He had gotten to earth recently and didn't know a thing about the Decepticon's intercepting their signal. He didn't even know at Arcee knew this fact and needed to tell the other Autobots about it.

"I know that the Decepticon's are on their way here," she replied.

Sunstreaker seemed shocked at the news. He made a strange sound in his engine. "No wonder Starscream is here," he said. "I was a bit confused to see him here at first." He was quite for a moment then said. "I just hope nothing's happened to my brother."

"Brother?" Mikaela stared at him. "You have a brother?" she seemed surprised at the news. "Transformers can have brothers and sisters?"

"Don't get into that," Arcee warned her. "It's a little too hard to explain."

Mikaela didn't push it. She looked around herself, reading the street signs and changed the subject. "We'll be on Sam's street in a little while," she said. "We're only a few blocks from his house."

As she said these words a yellow Camaro shot past them. It went by so fast that Mikaela didn't recognize it at first but when she saw the Autobot symbol on the license plate she shouted. "That's Sam!" and forcably yanked Arcee around.

"Hey!" the female Autobot protested. "What was that?!"

"That was Sam!" the girl exclaimed, gunning the engine. "We have to stop him before he gets away."

Sunstreaker, having no idea what was going on did a U-turn and followed the two females as they chased after the other car. _Even human females are crazy drivers, _he thought with amusement. _I just hope this doesn't scratch my paint job. _

* * *

Optimus Prime lay unmoving in the bed of a larger transformer. Blitzwing had carried the unconscious Autobot commander to a area where deserted warehouses had been built near a set of railroad tracks. Inside the warehouse another Decepticon had been waiting. This one was slightly bigger than the other transformer and so when he'd transformed into his vehicles mode, a rather average looking train, he had enough room to carry Prime's body without any trouble.

Blitzwing was happy to get rid of the Autobot. Now he could repair himself without worrying about Prime coming to and pummling him. "If he wakes up while you're transporting him you're going to be in trouble," the Decepticon said, carefully working on the damage to his chest. "That guy is more ruthless that I thought."

"I wouldn't worry about that," the other Decepticon said in a authorative echoing voice."I already thought about that."

"Hmm," Blitzwing grunted. "Whatever. Just be careful, Astrotrain."

"Be careful yourself," the one called Astrotrain said. "You still have to pick up that one Autobot's body." he chuckled. "I heard Ratchet's taking care of it, trying to put it back online. Let's see how well you fare against a harmless medic."

Blitzwing made an annoyed sound and got off the ground. He went into plane mode and flew off. _It's not as funny as you think, _he thought. _Ratchet isn't as harmless as you think either._

Astrotrain watched him go then started up his engine and drove down the tracks to his next location. He laughed to himself. _I can always get under your metal plating can't I, old friend?_

* * *

William Lennox was no expecting any surprises. If anything he was expecting to spend some quality time with his wife Sarah and his baby daughter. Since getting back from Iraq and helping the Autobots defeat the Decepticons he didn't think of anything else but his family. He was enjoying going back into the routine of being a family man and wanted to put everything else out of mind, even though it wasn't likely that he'd forget such things any time soon. He'd put it out of his mind anyway.

Until the phone rang.

Will had been feeding his daughter when the phone started ringing. "Sarah, can you get that!?" he called out before remembering that his wife had gone to the store to buy diapers.

Cursing he set down the food, a plastic container full of brown apple sauce, and taking the baby out of her high chair he walked across the kitchen to answer the phone. He picked it up on the third ring. "Hello?" he said.

"Mr. Lennox," a voice on the other end said.

William recognized the voice and rolled his eyes. It belonged to that annoying federal agent Simmons. Lennox had hoped he would never hear the sound of that man's voice again. He felt the overwhealming urge to hang up on the man but didn't, knowing better than to hang up on government agents. He'd just have to find out what the man wanted. He just hoped it was important.

"Yeah?" he said, shifting his daughter slightly when she reached for the dog tags he still wore around his neck. "This is him."

"Mr. Lennox," Simmons said. "Do you know why I called?"

"No," Lennox said in what he hoped wasn't a rude tone. "I was hoping _you_ would tell_me_."

"It seems we're in need of your assistance," the agent said briskly. "Something has come up and we're rounding up anyone who took part in a certain 'incident' a few weeks ago."

"What incident?" Lennox asked, confused. _Get to the point already. _

The man was blunt. "Do you remember the Autobots?"  
Lennox froze. How could he forget? "This had better not be a joke," he snapped.

"I can assure you that this is no joke, Mr. Lennox," Simmons said. "Something involving the Autobots has come up and the president is getting worried. He wants to talk to you."

"Why me?" Lennox asked. "I don't have anything to tell him."

"Haven't you had interaction with these Autobots in the last few weeks?"

"I haven't even _seen_ the Autobots in the last few weeks," the man replied, bouncing his daughter in his arms to keep her from getting fussy. "I thought they'd gone back to wherever they came from."

"Apparently not," the man said. "Anyway we're sending a car to your house to pick you up. "

"What?" Lennox exclaimed. "I can't go anywhere! I have to take care of my daughter!"

Simmons acted as if he hadn't heard him. "See you soon, Mr. Lennox." then the line went dead.

For a moment William Lennox stood there as if frozen. Then he lost his temper and hung up the phone, cursing the government.

* * *

Barricade was beginning to find the police car following him very annoying. No matter where he went or how fast he was going the car stayed with him. He was seconds from transforming and showing the tail gator who was boss. Suddenly his communicator, which had been silent for the past few weeks except for the occasional police report, came to life.

"Barricade, come in Barricade."

_Well there's a voice I haven't heard in awhile. _he thought, recognizing the slightly whiny tones. 'This is Barricade," he said.

"Barricade, this is Starscream," the voice said. "I see you are still functional. I thought for sure you'd been destroyed during our last battle with the Autobots."

"I don't die that easily," he said. "Prime barely even scratched me."

"You're lucky that's all you got."

Barricade knew Starscream had contacted him for a specific reason. The slightly egotistical jet hardly ever contacted people just to find out how they were doing. "What do you want?" Barricade asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, Starscream, I know you didn't just contact me to chat," the police car said, annoyed at the confusion in Starscream's voice. "Now what do you want?"

"You might not be aware of this but Optimus Prime has sent a signal to Cybertron asking all Autobots to come to Earth," Starscream began. "I managed to intercept the signal with the help of Shockwave and Soundwave. They didn't recieve the whole thing."

Barricade didn't seem to get the point. He didn't see how intercepting an Autobot signal should be important. So what if the Autobots came to earth? Cybertron would belong to the Decepticons then. "So?" he asked. "Wouldn't them coming to earth be a _good_ thing?"

"Do you have nails for brains?" Starscream demanded, his voice growing shrill. "Cybertron is a wasteland now. It's not fit to live on. That's why they're all coming here. Earth has everything they need including energy. The only thing not so wonderful about it is all those flesh creatures running around." there was disgust in the jet's voice.

Barricade still wasn't getting it. "So?"

"So?!" Starscream nearly screamed. "They _can't _have this planet! The Decepticons were here first! It should belong to us!"

"Where did you get an idea like that?"  
Starscream let out an impatient sound. He wasn't getting through. Either Barricade had lost his mind or he wasn't hearing Starscream clearly. or he was just talking like that to annoy the Air Commander."Just come to these coordinates," the jet said in exasperation.

The computer in the car flashed a location. "All right," the police car said. "I'll see you there."

Starscream didn't answer. He'd already cut the connection. "Jerk," the Decepticon growled.

At least he had somewhere to go now, but he couldn't head to the location just yet. The other police car was still following him around. He would have to deal with that problem first before he did anything else.

* * *

Sam noticed a pink motorcycle following him down the street. It took him a few seconds to recognize the bike as the one he'd brought for Mikaela after he'd demolished her old one. When recognition hit him he slammed on Bumblebee's brakes and brought the car to a stop. Bumblebee wasn't very happy about that. "Sam!" he exclaimed.

But Sam wasn't listening. The youth was already out of the car and running toward Mikaela. "Mikaela!" he exclaimed, waving his arms. "There you are! I've been trying to call you all day. Where have you been?"

Mikaela stopped her bike and got off, running toward Sam. She grabbed his arms and said urgently. "I don't have time to explain," she said. "We have another problem."

He stared at her. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "What do you mean we have another problem?"

Just then Mikael;a's motorcycle went through some kind of metamorphasis. One minute it was on two wheels and the next it was standing on two feet. Sam's eyes grew wide. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, staring. "When did it learn to do _that?!"_

"Sam," Mikaela said. "That's one of the things I need to talk to you about." she turned and waved at the motorcycle and the yellow Lamborghini that had parked on the side of the road behind it. "This is Arcee and the Lamborghini's name is Sunstreaker. They're Autobots."

"Autobots!" he exclaimed. "You mean there are_ more_?"

"A lot more," Bumblebee said, also transforming. "Did you think there were only five of us, Sam?" the yellow Camaro chuckled. "Hey, Arcee, Sunstreaker. When did you get here?"

"I've been here for awhile," Arcee replied.

"I got here this morning," Sunstreaker answered, transforming as well. He looked at himself with a forlorn expression. "I knew this would scratch my paint job." he mumbled.

"I think _that_ happened when you fought Starscream," Arcee said, absently.

"Starscream?!" Sam looked confused. "He's _back_?"

"We'll explain later," Arcee said, looking around. She'd noticed a few people peeking out of their houses and gaping at the giant robots. "First, I think we should find some other place more private to talk."

The others immediately agreed it would be a good idea, so not to scare the humans, and got out of there.

What none of them noticed was that a black car had pulled out from the shadows, a short distance down the street, and started following them.

* * *

Ratchet was carefully creeping toward the construction site from a different direction. So far the other robots hadn't spotted him and he hoped to keep it that way. Something didn't seem right about this and he was determind to find out just what they were up to. What he didn't knew was that the other robots had been watching him the whole time, though they acted like they didn't.

_Who does that Autobot think he's kidding, _the leader of the group, whose name was Scrapper, thought. _Doesn't he think we can see him? He sticks out too much. _

"Should we let him spy on us like that, Scrapper?" another, a bulldozer named Bonecrusher (who is named after the one in the movie but not the same one) wanted to know. "Shouldn't we do something about it?"

"Aww, let him spy on us," Scrapper said, off handedly. "We're not hurting anything, yet. Besides; we're under orders not to fight unless provocked. I highly doubt a spying Autobot counts as provocation. If he started firing on us or gets too close then we can attack cuz then he'll be too close."

"But-"

"Don't worry. He'll overstep his limit," Scrapper assured him. "Just wait. You'll see."

"HEY!" a voice rang out suddenly. "That does_ not _go there!"

The other two robots turned slightly. They spotted a crane aggresively barreling down on a excavator and screaming at the top pf his lungs. "Put that dirt somewhere_else_! It does _not_ go there!"

"Hook, leave Scavenger alone!" Scrapper shouted at the ticked off crane. "He's putting that dirt where I told him to."

"But-" the crane stuttered.

"Not another word!" Scrapper cut him off. "Just get back to work."

Hook grudgingly did as he was told, muttering to himself about imperfections.

From where Ratchet was hiding he over heard the construction vehicles conversation. _So I was right, _he thought. _They are other transformers. _He went into vehicle mode and started his engine. _I'd better let the other know about this._

As he pulled out something crashed into him from behind and knocked him forward. Before he could put on the breaks he flew off the road and into the construction site, smashing into Scavenger and a dump truck named Long Haul. The two construction vehicles screamed as they were plowed into each other then knocked over.

Scrapper watched him do this and angrily went into robot mode. "You!" he exclaimed, already stalking toward the Autobot medic.

_Oh no, _he thought as the vehicles suddenly transformed into robots.

The five robots started to close in on him.

* * *

The other police car had a feeling Barricade was trying to ditch him. After a certain amount of time had gone by the other car had started acting funny, suddenly speeding up and taking sharp corner turns. The one following him wasn't about to lose him that easily.

_He's up to something, _the car thought. _I'm going to find out what it was. He's not going to get away from me. _

Suddenly Barricade swerved around. The other car shot sideways to avoid a collision. He smacked into some garbage cans, overturning them and spilling awful smelling compost onto the pavement. Barricade had realized that he wasn't going to get rid of this guy by simply out running him. It was time to deal with the pest a different way.

"All right, you tail gator," he growled, transforming. "I don't know why you're following me but this ends here."

The other car didn't react for a moment then it too transformed. A robot about the same size as him stood and faced him. "Yes it does," the other robot said. He smirked. "Hello, Barricade. Remember me?"  
Barricade recognized him right away. "_Prowl," _he growled. "So you've become a police car as well. You have always copied me. I should have figured this wouldn't be any different."

"I'm _not_ copying you," Prowl said, calmly. "I chose this form because it sends a message to law breakers like you." He made a disgusted face."You chose it to make fun of the criminal justice system."

"Shut up," Barricade snapped. "It had nothing to do with that." he went into an aggressive stance. "and it's about time I dealt with you properly."

Prowl lifted his blaster. "I'd like to see you try it," he retorted.

The Decepticon growled in rage and lunged at the other police car.

_A/N_

_Good cop vs bad cop. XD Yes these guys are gonna be rivals. _

_I kinda had a hard time getting Barricade's personality right. I mean the only time he talks is when he'd demanding to know where the glasses are and that's kinda hard to figure him out with. I can't just have him yelling. "WHERE ARE THE GLASSES?!" or whatever all the time. Maybe if I'd read Ghosts of Yesterday it would be easier for me. _

_I hope nothing I wrote offended you._


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

"Okay here's how it is," Arcee said once the whole group was a good distance away from Tranquility at an old off road gas station that had been shut down for years and was now missing both gas pumps and the roof of the mini mart. "Everyone, well the Autobots that hadn't gone after the Cube anyway, had been waiting for Optimus' message about the All Spark. When we got the message it wasn't exactly what we wanted to hear but it was better than nothing. As we got ready to head to our new home I discovered that someone had intercepted the message. With some help from Wheeljack I was able to find out that the Decepticon Stascream had also been able to read the message. I did some snooping around and found out that Starscream was creating an army of his own. I headed here after I found this out, desperate to tell Optimus what was going on." she sighed. "I thought I hadn't been spotted but it seems that Starscream knows I know he knows."

"So he followed you here to keep you from telling Optimus?" Sam asked, trying his best to keep up.

The female Autobot nodded. "Yes," she replied. "That's why he tried to kill me." she glanced at Sunstreaker, who was leaning against the gas station building with his arms folded. "Luckily Sunstreaker came long when he did. He scared Starscream away but I don't think it's over." she glanced at the sky. "I think this is only the beginning."

"Are you saying the other Decepticons might be on their way here?" Sam asked, his eyes growing wide.

Arcee nodded.

Sam didn't like this piece of news. "Oh no," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Nonononono.."

Mikaela gave him a look. "Knock it off, Sam," she scolded. She looked at Arcee. "Is that why Barricade attacked me? Because he was after you?"

The female Autobot shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "I don't think so. He seemed genuinly surprised to see me and I don't think he knows."

Mikaela was disappointed. The mystery of why Mikaela had tried to kill her would never be solved it seemed. "Maybe he was just trying to get revenge," Bumblebee said to her. "You know, for killing Frenzy."

"Maybe," she agreed, but felt that wasn't it either. Barricade probably had another reason, though she couldn't figure it out. _ He knows I didn't kill Frenzy. Maggie said she did._

"Anyway," Arcee said, breaking into her thoughts. "We must find Optimus Prime before it's too late."

"I don't know where he is," Bumblebee said. "Last thing I heard he went to Vegas but he should have been back by now." the yellow Camaro looked worried. "I hope nothing happened."  
"What could have happened?" Sunstreaker asked. "Why'd he go to this Vegas place anyway?"

"He was checking out a distress signal from an Autobot," Bumblebee answered. "Either he didn't get there or something happened because he didn't even let us know what he was doing after he left or tell us how the Autobot is doing."

Arcee suggested something the others didn't want to think about. "What if it wasn't an Autobot?" she asked.

The other four looked at her. "It could have been a Decepticon," the pink motorcycle explained, gesturing. "When I left Cybertron I saw some Decepticons leave as well. If it was a Decepticon he could have gotten into some kind of trouble"

The others said nothing. Her suggestion seemed logical. "I think we should let the others know," Bumblebee said. "If it's Decepticons it would be a good idea for everyone else to know about it. So they can be ready."

The others agreed that was a good idea but before they could leave a voice called out. "Freeze! Nobody's going anywhere!"

* * *

Starscream was getting impatient. He'd been waiting for Barricade to meet him at an abandoned airbase for the past hour and was starting to get impatient if not a little annoyed... well a lot annoyed. "Where is he?" he asked himself out loud. "The least he could have done was let me know! I hate it when he does this!" He'd given the Decepticon another half hour then he'd try to get in contact with him again. 

Well another half hour came and went and still no sign or signal from Barricade. Growling to himself he tried to get in contact with the Decepticon police car...

At the moment Barricade was in the middle of an all out brawl with Prowl. So far neither was winning this match of skill and strength as they used everything from guns to fists to try and beat the other's face in or at least to the ground. It seemed as soon as one went down he would get right back up and fight with more intensity. For the moment it was a draw.

Barricade did not need any distractions at the moment, especially not from an annoying, whiny piece of slag named Starscream. "Barricade," the Air Commander's voice shouted into his hearing receptors. "COME IN, BARRICADE! CAN YOU HEAR ME!?"

Barricade, distracted by the voice, took a kick in the chest and smacked into the wall of a house. The people inside screamed in panic as a metal body broke out the windows and took out one of the upstairs bedrooms, one painted in a hot eye searing pink. "I'm here," he said, getting up and warding off another blow from the Autobot police car. "But I'm busy at the moment."  
"What could you possibly be busy with?" Starscream shot back, irritably. "You should have been here two hours ago."

"Well sorry," Barricade snapped, grabbing Prowl's fist when he tried to punch him. He kicked the Autobot away. Prowl smashed into the yard of the house across the street and took out a giant dolphin shaped fountain. "I can't talk right now."

"Barricade, don't you dare cut me off!" Starscream yelled. "Get your fenders over here before I'm forced to come looking for you and you _don't _want that, believe me!"

Prowl was up again and coming toward him at full speed. "Right now I'd welcome it," Barricade said before taking one in the stomach area. "OOOF!" he went flying into the house again. Luckily by then the family had evacuated and were no longer in any danger of being killed by accident.

"Barricade, what was that?" Starscream asked, hearing the sound of smashing timber. "Barricade? Barricade?!"

Grunting, Barricade untangled himself from the house and stood shakily to his feet. Prowl was coming toward him again, looking like he was going to send the Decepticon back into the wreckage of the house or further. Barricade stepped out of the way and Prowl flew past him and into the ruined house. The Decepticon saw his chance and leaped on top of Prowl, grabbing his arms and forcing them behind his back.

Starscream was still trying to get his attention. "Barricade!" he was screaming. "I order you to answer me!"

With a look of annoyance that the Air Commander thankfully couldn't see Barricade said. "I'll be there in a few minutes." then cut the feed before Starscream could start squawking.

Prowl was squirming in the Decepticon's grasp, trying to get his arms loose. Barricade wasn't about to let him go, not when he finally had the upper hand. He pressed the weight of his knee into the other robot's back, forcing Prowl downward and causing his face to go into the interior of the wrecked house. "Now_ you're _at_ my _mercy," he proclaimed, ruthlessly smashing Prowl further down into the house. The Autobot's head broke through the downstairs floor boards and went into the newly renovated basement, narrowly missing the entertainment center but smashing the counter of a mini bar. "And I won't be so merciful."

Prowl's reply came out muffled through the floor boards and the basement. "Since_ when _have you_ever_ been_ merciful_?!"

The Decepticon growled in anger and pulled the Autobot police car out of the ruined house. "Shut up!" he ordered, yanking him onto his feet.

Now that Prowl was standing he could do something about Barricade holding his arms. Forcing himself off balance, he fell backward and onto Barricade. The Decepticon was taken by surprise and lost his footing. The two robots fell backward and crashed to the pavement. Momentarily stunned, Barricade's grip on the Autobot's arms loosened. Prowl took advantage of it and pulled himself loose. Once he was on his feet again he spun around to face Barricade. The Decepticon chose not to challenge him further, suddenly going into vehicle mode and driving off, tires squealing.

"Hey!" Prowl shouted, also going into vehicle mode and chasing after him. _You're not going to get away __**that**__ easily!_

* * *

Jazz's spark wasn't exactly gone. It was still there just offline. When Megatron had ripped the Autobot in half the spark hadn't been destroyed. The Decepticons knew this and that was why they wanted his body, so they could make him a Decepticon. Ratchet did not know this. If he had he could have easily brought Jazz back without much effort and wouldn't have dumped the other Autobot's body so carelessly in the bushes. Since Ratchet was currently preoccupied with the agressive Costructicons that wanted to kill him, he didn't notice the 1980's Lamborghini Countach that seemed to come out of nowhere and transform into another Decepticon named Breakdown. As it reached down to grab the offline Autobot lying in the rose bushes it noticed a car across the street. He stared at the car for a moment, getting real nervous as it seemed to be staring at him. 

"Stop staring at me!" he shouted at the car, before raising his gun and firing at it. The car exploded as the blast made contact with the engine and fuel tank, sending debree flying in all directions. Satisfied with that, he grabbed up Jazz's body and took off with it in draped over his shoulder.

* * *

Ratchet heard the explosion but couldn't investigate it because of the mob of Decepticons surrounding him. "You should have minded your own business, Autobot," Scrapper said, as he and the others loomed over the Autobot medic threateningly. 

"Wait," Ratchet said, putting up his hands to keep the other robots from doing anything violent. "Don't! I wasn't going to-"

"Shut up!" Scrapper cut him off. "You were spying on us and that's all we need to know." he looked at the others. "How should we deal with him?"

Many different suggestions were flung at him. Each one screwier than the one before.

"Yank off his limbs!"

"Cement him into the ground!"

"Use his spark for a night light!"

"Make him drink lubricants!"

"Use his head for a football!"

Ratchet slowly backed away as the Constructicons closed in on him, looking like hungry Predacons. "Now there's no need for any of that, gentle bots I'll just be on my way." Suddenly he lifted his blaster and let loose a string of ammunition. The Decepticons, taken by surprise, ducked for cover. Once they were all a safe distance away he went into vehicle mode and drove off, spraying gravel all over the Decepticons as he did so.

"AFTER HIM!" Scrapper shouted. "Constructicon merge and become..."

The six robots came together, creating a giant robot, ten times Ratchet's size. "DEVASTATOR!" The mammoth robot chased after the Autobot car.

Ratchet swerved to avoid one of the giant flailing hands. "Whoa!" he exclaimed. "What in Primus?"

"YOU CANNOT ESCAPE DEVASTATOR!" the giant robot said, keeping in step with the rescue hummer. "YOU ARE _DOOOOOOOOOOOOMED!"_

Ratchet swerved to avoid the giant robot's foot. _I have to get Jazz and get out of here!_

* * *

Sam and Mikaela, being humans, reacted in compliance to what the phantom voice had shouted. They froze. Sam put up his hands just to be safe but lowered them when he saw the look Mikaela was giving him. The Autobots on the other hand weren't fazed by the voice and didn't comply to the command. Instead, they started probe the darkness for the source. 

"Who's there?" Arcee demanded, turning toward the voice. "Show yourself before we are forced to expose you."

"There's no need for that," a voice said. Someone stepped out of the shadows. "I don't have anything to hide."

Sam and Mikaela instantly recognized the man in the suit. Their first encounter with him had been all but pleasant. Agent Simmons, the slightly sarcastic, annoying piece of crap who had an ego the size of Alaska. "What do you want?" Mikaela demanded, glaring at the man. "Don't you have a Mall to guard?"

The man gave her a look of forced tolerance. He chose not to give her a comeback and stepped toward the two teens and their Autobot friends. "So there are _more_ of you." he eyed Bumblebee who gave him an expressionless stare. He carefully gave the Camaro a wide birth, remembering what had happened when he'd last encountered the car. When he was standing about a foot away from the kids and their robotic comrades he said. "I'm here on a matter of national security."

Sam and Mikaela looked at each other. "National Security?" Sam asked. "You mean like last time when you and your cronies forced yourselves into my house, kidnapped us, threatened Mikaela and her father, and then drug us miles below Hoover Dam just because you could!?"

"It _wasn't_ Hoover Dam," the man named Simmons said coolly.

"Whatever," Sam said, folding his arms. "Well it's not going to happen this time. You're not dragging me anywhere and you're definately not putting your hands on my Camaro!"

"We don't _want_ your car," Simmons said, eyeing the three Autobots who all stared down at him cautiously. They knew that some humans weren't all that nice and this one seemed to be far from the pleasant category. When he spoke again he addressed everyone present, even the Autobots. "We need your help."

Sam and Mikaela looked at each other once more. "_Our _help?" he asked. "With what?"

"I can't explain it here," Simmons said. He made a beckoning motion with his hand. "Now if you'll come with me."

The teens didn't move. Simmons frowned at them. "Well?" he said.

"We're not going anywhere with you until you tell us what this is about," Mikaela said firmly. She folded her arms and gave him a defiant glare. "And don't even _think _of forcing us to go." she glanced up at the three Autobots. "I don't think _they'd_ be too happy if you roughed us up."

Ignoring the Autobots Simmons snapped at the defiant Mikaela. "Listen here, Miss Smarty Pants," he snapped. "I don't have time for your attitude. Just come with me before I'm forced to call in back up."

Arcee stepped between Simmons and Mikaela. The agent took a few steps back as the female Autobot leaned down and put her face in his way, blocking any view of the still glaring Mikaela. "I'm not sure you will want to do that, immature male flesh creature," she said. "There are better ways in getting people to do things you want them to. Now, if you tell us what the problem is, I'm sure they will be more than happy to go with you."

Simmons was a little intimidated by this giant metal robot looming over him but not enough to let any information slip. "I'm sorry, Ma'am," he said, knowing right away from her voice that she was female. "But I'm under orders not to explain until I have the teenagers brought to the Pentagon."

"The Pentagon?!" Sam and Mikaela exclaimed, shocked. "Oh nonononono." Sam started shaking his head and taking a few steps back until he ran into Bumblebee's leg and could go no further. "I'm _not_ going to the Pentagon."

"You don't have a choice!" Simmons shouted around Arcee.

"I believe they _do_," Sunstreaker said, stepping forward. He looked down his nose at the agent. "You see, immature male primate, we are in need of their help right now. When we're done we'll be happy to bring them to this Pentagram."

"_**Pentagon**_!" Simmons shouted.

Sam and Mikaela gaped at the Autobots. "You have _got _to be_ kidding_!" they exclaimed.

The Autobots ignored them. They'd become aware of another disturbance nearby. A minute later about twenty armed men came out of the shadows and aimed their high powered weapons at the Autobots. The Autobots didn't feel threatened by the small human guns but were a bit surprised to see the humans aiming the weapons at them. "There's no need for that," Arcee said, putting up her hands, but not in a surrendering way. "We're not going to hurt you."

"I don't think they _care,"_Mikaela said, stepping closer to Arcee as she eyed the men and their guns. If they opened fire Sam and Mikaela would be dead in a matter of seconds.

Simmons was feeling cocky again. "You see the guns?" he asked. "They look like normal guns don't they?" he saw the looks on their faces. "Well these aren't just any old guns. They're loaded with Sabot rounds."

"Sabot rounds?" Arcee said confused.

"Superheated ammunition that can reduce a giant alien robot into a molten pile of metal within seconds," the man explain. He looked right at the kids. "Now if you don't want me to be forced to use these babies on your friends you'll come with me, quietly."

Sam glared at him. "You son of a bitch!" he shouted. "You keep those things away from my car!"

"Come with me and I won't be forced to turn your car into scrap metal," Simmons said. He beckoned them again. "Come on."

Sam sputtered angrily. "You're crazy!" he shouted. "Completely insane!"

"I'm just doing my job," Simmons said, getting impatient.

The two teens looked at the Autobots. Arcee seemed to be glaring at Simmons. This was the first human she'd met that she wasn't sure she liked. She looked at the two Autobots behind her. The three began speaking in their original language, emitting low sonic blast. They coversed quickly then went back to English. Bumblebee didn't seem happy at the final descition. Arcee turned back to the teens and Simmons.

"Sam, Mikaela," she said, looking down at the teenagers, her voice strained. "Go with him." when they began to protest she cut them off. "When we find the others we'll come and get you." she glanced at the soldiers and Simmons. "We won't be long. If you give us any trouble when we come for them I'll go against Optimus' wishes and stomp you all." When she got the proper response from them all, wide eyed, terror, she turned and looked at the other two. "Let's go."

The three Autobots transformed into vehicle mode and drove off. As Arcee drove past Mikaela she slowed down long enough to say. "I'm sorry." the followed the two cars down the road.

Once they were gone Simmons cleared his throat to get the kids attention. "Well now," he said. "Shall we be off."

Sam and Mikaela grudgingly followed Simmons to a waiting black SUV with tinted windows and climbed inside. Once everyone was in and the doors closed, the car took off down the road, followed by several others.

What none of them noticed was that a Ligier JS11-Ford Formula 1 pulled onto the road behind them and followed them for a few minutes before disappearing completely.

_A/N_

_I don't like Agent Simmons. He annoys me to no ends. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hope I wasn't biased. Let me know what you think okay? _


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

Ironhide grunted and transformed pushing on the truck that was sandwiching him against the wall. "Get offa me, you pile of junk," he growled, shoving the truck away from him.

The vehicle backed off and the weapons specialist got shakily to his feet. "What is your problem?" he demanded. "Do I look like a-" he suddenly noticed he wasn't talking to anyone. The truck had no driver. "What in the world?" He suddenly got the feeling that he was going crazy. _No, it can't be._

Then the truck transformed before his optics. He watched as it became an almost exact replica of Optimus Prime's design, only black. When it was finished it loomed over the smaller transformer. "Would you like to say that again?" he asked in a deep voice that sounded nothing like Optimus Prime's.

Ironhide stared up at the other robot. "Who in the Pit are you?!"

The taller robot smirked at him. "Wouldn't _you_ like to know?" he asked before lifting his guns and shooting.

Ironhide dodged the blast by jumping out of the way but the building behind him wasn't so lucky. The two blasts hit the wall and made the whole thing collapse. Luckily it had been abandoned years ago and nobody was hurt.

"Those are some nice guns you got there," the weapons specialist said. His own blasters came on. "Have a taste of mine!" He shot two huge fireballs at the other transformer.

The stranger was ready and stepped sideways. The fireballs smashed into a restaurant on the other side of the street, exploding on impact and taking out the entire front wall. The Autobot heard screams as people exited the building and scattered in all directions. He just hoped nobody had been hurt but that was unlikely seeing as half the building had been destroyed by his shots._Prime is going to kill me!_

The other robot saw the look on his face and started laughing. "Feeling guilty?" he asked. "They were only insects."

"They're_ not _insects," Ironhide retorted, circling around the other robot. "They have as much a right to live as we do."

"Whatever," the other said, shrugging, keeping an eye on the moving Autobot. "I could care less. Insects need to be squashed. That's all they're good for."

"We'll see about that!" Ironhide said before blasting the other bot once more.

This time his shots scored a hit and the robot was sent flying. It crashed into another building. bringing it down around him. "You shouldn't have done that, Autobot," the other robot said, picking itself up. "Now you made me mad!"

The next moment Ironhide was sent flying when a giant fireball filled his optics.

* * *

Mikaela sat in the backseat of the SUV staring out the window with her arms folded. She was reviewing all the things that had happened to her today but couldn't really bring herself to believe it. Not even now as she sat next to Sam as they all headed to the Pentagon. Sam, who had finally stopped glaring at Simmons noticed how quiet his girlfriend was being and put his hand on her shoulder. She looked over at him.

"Are you all right?" he asked with concern.

"Yeah," she said. "I was just thinking."

"About what?"

She shrugged. "It's not important."

The look on Sam's face told her he didn't believe her but he let it go. She probably didn't want to discuss it in front of Simmons anyway. He had the tendency to hear things he wasn't supposed to.

_I don't understand any of this! The Decepticons. The Autobots, The Pentagon. What would the Pentagon want with me and Sam? Does it have something to do with the whole situation Arcee was talking about? _she sighed, still looking out the window but not really looking at anything. _I'll find out soon._

* * *

"I don't see why we had to leave them like that," Bumblebee complained to Arcee and Sunstreaker as they roared down the road, in the opposite direction of Simmons and the kids. "I don't trust that guy. He's one of the reasons I got drug to sector seven in the first place."

"Sector Seven?" Sunstreaker said, curious. "What happened to you there?"

"You don't want to know," the yellow Camaro answered, sounding like he didn't want to talk about it. "I'm still trying to forget it. Luckily the Allspark was there."

"The All spark..." Arcee said, quietly. "Bee, try to get in contact with Prime again."

"I already did," he replied. "He's still not answering."

"Slag. What about Ironhide and Ratchet?"

'They're not answering either," he told her. "It's almost like they disappeared."

"I hope this doesn't mean they ran into the Decepticons," Sunstreaker said.

"I hope so too," Arcee said.

* * *

Devastator wasn't going to let Ratchet get away. The giant robot chased the Autobot medic all around the area, swinging his arms at the smaller bot, trying to knock him over. Ratched realized running wasn't going to get him anywhere and picked up speed, transforming as he did so. When Devastator swung at him again he turned and shot at the robot, the blast hitting the Decepticon squarely in the face.

Devastator howled in agony, putting his hands over his face. Ratchet kept firing, hitting the bigger robot in the joint areas. The Construticons, unable to stay together any longer, separated and crashed heavily to the ground.

Ratchet waited for a momnent his gun still aimed at the six Constructicons. When they didn't transform or move he lowered his gun and sighed with relief. "That was easier than I thought," he said out loud. "Maybe_ too _easy." but he didn't spend too much time dwelling on it.

Turning from the damaged robots he went back into vehicle mode and headed to the spot where he'd left Jazz.

The dead Autobot wasn't there.

"What?" Ratchet went back into standard mode and stared at the spot, trying to figure out what happened. "Jazz couldn't have gotten up and gone anywhere. He's not even online anymore." A thought came to him. "Did someone take him?" An answer slowly formed in his mind. "Decepticons?" But why? Why would they take Jazz?" That answer came as well but not as quickly. "Oh no!"

Going into vehicle mode and roared his engine and shot down the road at speeds way over the limit. _I have to find him before the Decepticons do something to him!_

* * *

Barricade couldn't shake Prowl. He tried every trick he knew to get rid of the Autobot chasing him but nothing he did worked. He couldn't meet Starscream with an Autobot chasing him. The Autobots weren't supposed to know what was going on until it was too late. "And with that Primus forsaken Prowl chasing me it's not going to happen that way," he said out loud.

He screeched around a corner, narrowly missing two little kids riding their bikes. He had to think of a plan. He'd already confronted the Autobot and he wound up losing just like every other time. He just couldn't beat Prowl. Because of this he couldn't get away from him either. _I _have _to lose him. I don't know who but I must. I can't let him find out where I'm meeting Starscream. _

"Barricade!" a voice shouted, startling him and nearly causing him to crash. Prowl saw an opportunity and slammed into his rear bumper, causing him to swerve out of control for a moment . He regained control and demanded. "What do you _want,_ Starscream?"

"Where in Primus are you?" the jet demanded. "You should have been here by now."

"I'm in a jam right now," the police car replied. "I'll get there as soon as I can."

"Somehow I don't believe that."

"I don't_ care _what you believe!"

"Watch your mouth!" Starscream ordered. "I will not tolerate you talking to me like that."

"Get used to it," Barricade snapped.

"What did you just say?"

"None of your business! Good bye!" Starscream started squawking but Barricade cut the connection. He returned his focus to the real problem. Getting Prowl off his tail.

He swerved sharply around another corner. Prowl took the turn easily, keeping the Decepticon in his sights. _You won't get away from me that easily, Barricade, _the Autobot thought.

* * *

Mikaela was woken from a a sound sleep by someone shaking her. She opened her eyes, startled and looked toward the prson who'd rudely awaken her. Sam.

"What?" she asked, irritated. She hated people waking her up.

"We're almost there," he replied. He pointed out the window. "See."

She turned her head. She found herself staring at the streets of Washington D.C. She watched the buildings and monuments go by but she didn't say anything. She didn't really care about it.

_Whatever they want us for had better be important, _she thought. _But why would they want Sam and me anyway? I don't get it. _

A few minutes later Simmons was ushering the two teens into the Pentagon and down some halls to a conference room. There they met some of the people they'd run into when Megatron was after the Allspark.

Maggie Madsen the woman who had realized that the Decepticons had been hacking into the government system waved to them when she spotted them. Sam waved back only half heartedly. Mikaela didn't wave at all. She just found a seat and sat down in it. William Lennox, who was sitting in the seat beside her, gave her and Sam, who was looking around the room like he was lost, a curious look. _What are they doing here? _he wondered.

Mikaela noticed him staring but instead of asking why he was she asked. "So, what are you in for?"

"I'm not sure," he replied. "I got a call from Agent Simmons telling me that the Secretary of defense needed to talk to me." he remembered something else and said. "He also asked about the Autobots."

The girl's eyes got wide. "Why would he want to know about the Autobots?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I don't know," he replied. "I thought they'd all gone back to where they came from. Apparently they didn't."

Mikaela said nothing. She didn't feel like telling him that Simmons had been right. The Autobots had no intention of leaving and the government couldn't very well make them._But they might try if they find out that there's more here than there was before, _she realized. _And Mr. Simmons is so arogent that he might try to make them leave all by himself. _That brought on the memory of Bumblebee spraying lubricants all over the man's head. She smirked. _I'd like to see him try it._

"Mikaela?"

She looked up. Lennox was giving her a funny look. "Yeah?" she asked.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Oh, no, there's nothing wrong," she said quickly. "I was just thinking about... something fuuny."

He didn't push it.

Just then the Secretary of Defense, John Keller, entered the room. Those present stopped conversing with each other and looked at him, every face expressing the same emotion.

Keller was nervous and not feeling well. He stood before the small group of people with his hands behind his back, trying to come up with the right words. This whole meeting was not going to be recieved well, especially since they all had encountered both the Decepticon and Autobot sides of the transformers race and were on good terms with the Autobots. Keller himself hoped they government wouldn't try to get rid of them but if it came down to it he must follow orders. Finally he cleared his throat and began. "You're all probably wondering why I asked you here today," he began.

_You've got that right, _Sam didn't say.

The secretary turned to the screen behind him. "The reason why I wanted you all here was because you all had some contact with these beings called transformers," he said, his voice betraying the nervousness he felt. "It seems lately we've been having some problems with these creatures."

"What do you mean by problems?" Maggie asked. 'The Autobots don't seem to be any kind of threat. They helped us rebuild the buildings that the Decepticons destroyed a few weeks ago."

"It's not the Autobots I'm worried about," Keller told her. "Though the White House is not too sure about them yet. I'm worried about the other fraction."

"Why? I thought we disposed of them."

"Apparently not." Keller picked up the remote off the podium and switched on the giant screen behind him. Video of a construction site played before their eyes.

Mikaela didn't see what that had to do with anything, until she noticed that the vehicles had no drivers. She glanced over at Sam. His mouth had fallen open and he looked like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Mikaela looked back at the screen as Keller began talking again. "This video was filmed a few days ago," he said. "When we tried to communicate with these alien vehicles they refused to answer." he clicked off the screen. "I don't know what they're up to but we're watching them closely."

"How are you so sure they're Decepticons?" Maggie wanted to know. "They could be Autobots."

"We're taking no chances," Keller told her. "Whether they be Autobot or Decepticon; we would like to know what they're up to. If they're going to cause trouble we want to know."

"What about the other Autobots?" Lennox asked.

"We're keeping an eye on them too," he replied. He glanced over at Sam and Mikaela. "Agent Simmons told me that he encountered two that we haven't seen before. It seems like they are increasing their numbers for some reason."

"And you think we know why?" Lennox inquired.

Keller kept on staring at Sam and Mikaela. "At least some of you," he replied.

Mikaela looked away. She didn't like the way he was looking at her or Sam. _Simmons must have told him about Arcee and Sunstreaker. _she thought. _Speaking of which, I wonder what they're doing right now? I wonder if they found Optimus yet?_

* * *

Unfortunately they hadn't yet. The Autobots still didn't know that the Decepticons had captured him and taken him somewhere. They would soon find out but until then...

"Why won't he answer?" Bumblebee asked after he tried to get ahold of Optimus for the hundreth time.

"Are you using the right frequency?" Arcee asked him, turning her head. She was robot mode and leaning against the side of run down hamburger place. She and the other two Autobots had gotten off the road and transformed so they could discuss their recent problem.

"Yes," Bee replied, looking over at her. "But he won't answer. It's like he turned off his comlink."

"Do you think something happened to him?" Sunstreaker asked, from his perch on the roof of the building.

"I hope not," Arcee said. That was the last thing they needed, especially now. "Try contacting Ironhide or Ratchet." she suggested to Bumbelbee. "Maybe they heard from him."

Bee did so. He couldn't contact Ironhide but he did get a hold of Ratchet. "Bee?" the medic replied, loud enough for them all to hear him. "Where are you?"

"Halfway between San Fransisco and New York City," he replied.

"That doesn't help," Ratchet informed him, flatly. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Bee replied. "But we have a problem."

"What kind of problem?" He sounded like he didn't want to hear any bad news.

"We can't get in contact with Prime," the camaro answered. "Has he spoken to you at all?"

"No," the medic replied then asked. "What do you mean by "we"?"

Bumblebee looked at the other two Autobots. "I have Arcee and Sunstreaker with me," he replied. "They arrived on the planet just recently."

"I know Arcee did," Ratchet said. "Ironhide told me, but Sunstreaker?"

"Yes, he saved Arcee from Starscream."

"Starscream? this sounds serious...I'd better come to you," he told him. "I have something I need to tell Arcee. Can you give me the co-ordinance?"

Bumblebee did so.

"Okay, see yo in a few hours," the medic said. "Don't go anywhere before I get there."

* * *

Starscream was just seconds away from going out to find Barricade. He really didn't want to. He didn't have time and if he left there would be nobody there to greet the others when they finally arrived.

"And speaking of new arrivals," he said, hearing the sound of an approaching vehicle. He turned slightly. Another jet, similar in design to his own but not the same make touched down on the landing pad. The second it did it transformed into a robot of a similar design to his own robot mode but also different in color scheme and body structure. "Thundercracker," he said. "It's good to see you again."

_A/N_

_I got writer's block. That's it for now. I'm very sorry for this lame chapter. When I get my drive back I promise to make the next chapter better. I really hate it when I get writer's block. It ruins everything. _

_Side Note: Thundercracker's vehicle mode of choice is the same jet model used in the G1 series. He's slightly shorter than Starscream and has a revamped more realistic look to his G1 form. Imagine him how he looks in G1 only with much more detail. _


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

Ratchet didn't waste any time getting to the other Autobots. He had too much to tell them to take his time and he wanted to find out all they knew as well. Lucky for him the three had decided to stay put like he'd told them to, otherwise he never would have found them.

"All right," he said, once he arrived at the run down hamburger place and transformed back into standard mode. "Before we start anything I think one of you had better explain the issue to me in more detail." he looked at Arcee and Sunstreaker. They climbed down from their perches. "We'll start with you, Arcee, since you seemed to be desperate to get the information out before, whatever that information is."

She hesitated a moment, getting her thoughts together, then began, waving her hands around to gesture better. "The Decepticons are on their way here," she explained, glancing at the sky. "They intercepted the message Optimus Prime sent to the Autobots. They know about this planet and are coming here to take over it."

"How are you so sure?"

"Because I saw the whole thing," she explained. "Starscream was the first to know about it. He then told the others." she shook her head. "I don't know what he thinks he can accomplish but..."

"And you came here to warn us?" Ratchet asked.

She nodded. "Yes," she replied. "But I also came because I was invited." she gestured around herself. "Optimus wanted us to come here. It's our new home."

"Yes that is true," he replied, nodding in confirmation. "I remember him mentioning that he sent that message."

"But Starscream knows I know," she went on. "I'm not sure how but he does. Maybe He saw me listening in. He went after me awhile ago. He tried to kill me and Mikaela."

"Mikaela?" Ratchet cast a worried glance at her and the others. "Where is she? Is she all right?"

"Yes, she's fine," Sunstreaker replied, leaning against the side of the building and folding his arms. "Some government agent took her and the other human to some place called the pentagal."

"Pentagon," Bumblebee corrected him. He looked at Ratchet. "I'm still not sure I understand what's going on but I get the feeling the humans are getting involved as well."

"Why do you say that?"

"Something the older human said..."

"What did the older human say?"

"He didn't exactly say it was because of us," Bumblebee told him, thinking. "He just mentioned something and then took Sam and Mikaela to the pentagon." he thought for a moment. "I don't know what the reason was but my guess is they know the Decepticons are here, or at least Starscream is."

"He's not the only one," Ratchet said and looked over at Arcee. 'That's part of what I need to talk to you about, Arcee."

She looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"The Decepticons took Jazz's body."

"What?!" she exclaimed, horrified. "But I thought you were-"

He looked away. "I'm sorry."

"How could you be so irresponsible?" she demanded. "Why couldn't you have-" she stopped and rested her head on her hand. "I'm sorry. I'm sure it couldn't be prevented."

"I'm sorry," he said again.

"What in Primus could they want with Jazz's body?" Sunstreaker asked.

"I don't know." the Autobot medic replied. "But my guess is; if they can get him back online they'll reprogram him to be a Decepticon."

Ratchet saw the looks on the other three robots faces. It was clear they didn't like that thought, not at all, especially Arcee. She looked horrified at the very idea.

"We have to get him back," Arcee said.

"But how?"

"Do you know who took him?"

"No. I didn't see who it was but if it was an Autobot they would have shown themselves when I was looking."

Arcee didn't like that answer. "You didn't see anybody?' she asked.

"I couldn't," he replied. "I was in the middle of being attacked myself to see anyone."

"Attacked?" Bumblebee said. "By who?"

"More Decepticons," Ratchet replied. "They're disguised as construction equiptment. When I tried to get away from them they combined together and attacked me."

"Wait. Combined together? How could they combine together?" Sunstreaker wanted to know, not believing what he was hearing. "I thought the Decepticons don't have that kind of technology."

"Apparently they were somehow able to gain that knowledge," the medic said. "And if those Decepticons did I get the feeling there might be more."

* * *

Keller continued. "Adding to this problem of unidentified transformers we've been getting reports from energy plants that a lot of their power is being drained." he put his hands behind his back and started pacing. "None of the workers we spoke to know where it's going or even how it's being taken. They told me they can't find anything wrong when they run security checks." he looked at the group seated at the table. He had their full attention. "This is a very serious matter."

Maggie raised her hand and he nodded at her. "When did this start?" she wanted to know.

"Around the same time we had our first encounters with these new Decepticons," he replied. He faced the group, looking them all in the eye one at a time. "We think that the Decepticons might be stealing the energy."

"But why are you telling us all of this?" Lennox spoke up. "Shouldn't you be telling this to the-"

"The President doesn't want the general public to know," Keller cut him off. "At least not right now." he started pacing again. "We don't know what they're planning or why they even need the energy, but we have to either find out or stop them before they take anymore." He looked at them again, one person at a time. "This is where you come in. Some of you might still be communicating with the Autobots so we need you to tell them about our problem."

It all felt very complicated. Sam and Mikaela already knew why the Decepticons were there but neither voluntered any information. They didn't know why the Decepticons wanted the energy anyway. Mikaela noticed Keller was staring at her again and she looked away.

It was starting to become evident that nobody there was going to give out any information. "We'll discuss this further later," he said finally, sighing and wiping his forehead. "Until then, please feel free to look around but don't leave the building."

And they were dismissed. Sam and Mikaela exited the room together with Lennox only two steps behind. When they were in the hall he stopped them and asked. "Why did Keller keep looking at you two?"

They looked at each other but didn't give out any information. Lennox got enough of an answer from their silence. "You two know something don't you?" he asked.

Still nothing.

"Hey, you can tell me," he said, putting his hands in his pockets and leaning toward them. "I lived it, remember. Now what's going on?"

Mikaela felt it was safe to tell him. "You're right," she said. "But we can't talk about it here."

"Why?"

She looked around and he did the same. The hall was full of people but they were all unusually quite. It seemed almost like they were listening in, like they wanted to hear the answer as well. He understood right away. "I see," he said and looked back at them. "But where can we talk about it?"

"Some place we can't be overheard," she said and looked around. "Do you know the way out of this place."

Lennox did. "Follow me," he said and started walking. The two teens followed him down the hall. What they didn't know was that they were being followed by two government agents.

* * *

Barricade still haven't gotten rid of Prowl. He'd tried everything but couldn't shake him. This left the one final try. He would have to fight him again. He did not want to do that but he had no choice. Screeching to a stop he transformed back into robot mode and turned around to face Prowl. The other police car also transformed but used the momentum stay on course. Without warning he pushed himself off the pavement and tackled the other car to the ground.

The two police car robots rolled around on the street punching, kicking, and even biting, trying to overpower the other. So far neither was winning, though Prowl had an advantage.

"Just give up, Barricade," Prowl told him, trying to pin the black Decepticon to the ground. "You're not going to get away from me and there's no way in Primus I'm going to let you make your rendezvous with Starscream. So why don't you just give up and make it easy for yourself?"

Barricade wasn't going to give up that easily. He was never one for just folding up and packing in. It wasn't his style. He fought against the Autobot's hold, his teeth clenched and saying nothing. Even if he never made it to his destination he wasn't going to give into Prowl that easily. His will was just as strong as the Autobots if not stronger.

"Go to the Inferno," he snapped.

Prowl frowned at him, disappointed. "Fine, we'll do it your way," he said.

Suddenly Barricade's foot came up from a spot Prowl wasn't expecting and he was sent flying. He landed on the street on his back and crushed a stop sign as well and nearly hitting an oncoming car. The driver blared his horn and put on the brakes. The distraction of that car proved unlucky for the Autobot police car

One minute he was getting up the next he was on the ground again with a weight on his back and jagged metal teeth digging into his frame. He cried out and pushed himself up reverting into vehicle mode as he did so and driving away. Barricade gave chase in robot mode and struck the side of the car, knocking it off the road and into the front of a store.

Glass shattered and screams filled the air as the shoppers inside ducked for cover. The woman working at the cash register ducked down just in time to avoid being impaled by flying glass shards.

Prowl transformed back into robot mode and staggered to his feet. This time Barricade, in vehicle mode once more, shot past him and down the street. Prowl watched him go, too injured to give chase. He would have to let the Decepticon go for now. It wasn't like he couldn't pick up his trail later.

* * *

Sam, Mikaela, and Lennox stood just outside the entrance to the Pentagon building and picked up where they had left off on their conversation. "So do you know anything about the Autobots?" Lennox wanted to know.

"We know that they're coming here," Mikaela told him. "They're coming to this planet to live because, since the Allspark went pow, they can't do anything for their own planet."

"So they're invading?" he asked.

Mikeala shook her head. "No," she said. "They're allowed to come here and so their coming. Where else can they go?"

He let that sink in then asked another question. "Then what about these Decepticons?" he asked. "I thought we got rid of them all."

"No," Sam disagreed. 'There are more and they're all coming here. I guess you can call them an "invasion"."

"Why didn't you tell this to Keller?" Lennox wanted to know.

"The Autobots don't want a lot of people to know," Mikaela told him. "After all; it is_ their _war."

"But this is _our_ planet," Lennox pointed out. "We should have a right to know what's going on."

The two teens looked at each other. How much should they tell him? Lennox wasn't the type to blab things, but they weren't quite sure if the Autobots would want him to know. Then again Arcee had only told Mikaela because Starscream had attacked them. Lennox was waiting for an answer. They looked back at him. "If we tell you do you promise not to tell anyone else?" the girl asked.

He hesitated a moment then nodded. Maybe if he knew what was going on it might explain a few things. "I promise."

"The Decepticons are on their way here," Sam explained. "Some, like those ones Keller was talking about, have already arrived." he gestured at the sky. "But more are coming. Pretty soon there will be so many they'll block out the sun!"

Mikaela gave Sam a corrective look. The boy was exaggerating like usual when he got worked up over something. "Ignore him," she told the man. "He's exaggerating."

"Exaggerating?!" the young man exclaimed, staring at her. "Why would I exaggerate about something like this?"

She ignored him and continued where he left of. "Anyway; the thing is some of the Autobots know about this and know they'll have to be ready for the upcoming battle but Optimus Prime is missing and they need to find him."

"He's missing?"

"Yeah he went somewhere to check on a distress signal and he hasn't come back yet," Sam replied. "and he hasn't even conntacted the others to let them know where he is."

Lennox said nothing. He barely knew Optimus Prime, though he respected the Autobot leader a great deal for all he'd done and his knowblility. He couldn't think of any reason why Optimus wouldn't contact the others in his fraction but one. "Did you ever consider that something might have happened to him?" he asked.

The two looked at each other. They hadn't thought of that. "If he did run into trouble I think we should tell them," Mikaela said.

"They might already have figured it out for themselves," Lennox told them. "They're soldiers after all."

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "What if Optimus ran into Decepticons and they did something to him? What if he's dead? What if his body's blocking traffic somewhere?"

Mikalea gave Sam a look. That wasn't likely. Optimus was too powerful to be taken down so easily. "I think Mr. Lennox is right."

_A/N_

_I apologize for taking so long to update this. I just can't seem to get any inspiration. I'm sorry. I'm discontinuing this fic until I get some new ideas. Maybe if I watch the movie over or re-read the noval I'll think of something... until then... Sorry. If anyone has any ideas that could help me it would be appreciated and thanks in advance. _


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